Best Non-Gaming PC Build

OgreMkVSep 25, 2011, 1:34 PM

Hello,

I'd like some advice and some recommendations for products.

I have a budget of around $800 (maybe up to a $1000). I have a brand new (2 month old) 1 Terabyte Seagate drive that I can scavenge from my current system. I also have a brand new 24" HD (1920x1080) and my peripherals are all fine.

I do not need a gaming system. All I need for video is HD quality on my monitor. What I do need is raw computing power. I probably won't be able to afford the new chips from Intel and AMD, so I might wait for a bit until those chip prices come down slightly (unless they are so amazing that there's no point in buying an i5 of whatever).

I definitely need a new case and I really need one with a filter.

I don't think I'll be overclocking much if any. I need this machine to last for several years (my current machine is an Athlon 4000+ at 2.4 Ghz).

I'd definitely like room to grow on the mb. I'd like SATA3 and I'd really like a SSD. I've seen some for $1/gig so I think that would be doable.

Ogre, Tom's site already has a pretty good setup for a $1,000 build (under the System Builder link, silver medal $1,000 build). In your selection you save the $$ by not needing the WD HDD (since you have a 1TB already) and may want to go down to 1 video card. This will save you about $225 off the bottom line. Now, you can either take that $225 and get more RAM (system is spec'd with 4GB) and move up to the i7-2600K or just spend less on the system (down to about $800 - your initial budget). The new Intel CPUs are due to come out soon (October to November). This will cause the current price of the i7-2600K to drop (maybe up to $100). So if you can wait you can pocket a little more savings, or enhance your rig for the same amount of money. Maybe get the i7-2600K with a water cooler setup from Corsair (about $110). Then you can OC that 2600K and get your "more raw computing power". The choice is yours. There are many options and possibilities out there.grafxfx

Ogre, Tom's site already has a pretty good setup for a $1,000 build (under the System Builder link, silver medal $1,000 build). In your selection you save the $$ by not needing the WD HDD (since you have a 1TB already) and may want to go down to 1 video card. This will save you about $225 off the bottom line. Now, you can either take that $225 and get more RAM (system is spec'd with 4GB) and move up to the i7-2600K or just spend less on the system (down to about $800 - your initial budget). The new Intel CPUs are due to come out soon (October to November). This will cause the current price of the i7-2600K to drop (maybe up to $100). So if you can wait you can pocket a little more savings, or enhance your rig for the same amount of money. Maybe get the i7-2600K with a water cooler setup from Corsair (about $110). Then you can OC that 2600K and get your "more raw computing power". The choice is yours. There are many options and possibilities out there.grafxfx

Thanks.

"There are many options and possibilities out there" is the whole problem. I've been reading what I can, but I'm just not up on this stuff as I was in my 20s.

I rarely see even a powerhouse PC with more than 8gigs RAM... is there a reason for that? With memory so cheap...

I don't guess I need to worry about crossfire or SLI, but...

Geez, I'm starting to sound like my dad. When the heck did I get old??!?!? OK, I've got to dive back into geekdom.